Recipe: Uniworld’s Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

Over the past couple of weeks, our friends at Uniworld Boutique River Cruises have been sharing some of their most-requested recipes. Now, it’s time for a fitting dessert.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
by Delio Garavito Vargas, Uniworld Corporate Pastry Chef
An irresistible Viennese treat baked to perfection during Uniworld’s “European Jewels” boutique river cruise.

Ingredients

Cake

1/4 cup (50 g) bittersweet Couverture or cooking chocolate
1/8 cup (30 g) icing sugar
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
3 tbsp (44 ml) rum
2 tbsp (30 g) sugar
3/8 cup (50 g) breadcrumbs
3/8 cup (50 g) crumbled ladyfingers
2 tbsp (30 ml) milk
1/4 cup (50 g) hazelnuts or walnuts, roasted and grated
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup (100 g) butter (melted for greasing)
3 tbsp (45 g) sugar (for the baking forms)

Chocolate Sauce

2/3 cup (150 g) dark chocolate
1/4 pt (150 ml) milk
1/8 cup (20 g) sugar
1/2 cup (100 ml) cream
1/2 vanilla bean, cut open
1 cup (80 g) soft butter
2 tsp (10 ml) cognac
1/2 pt (300 ml) cream (half-whipped, for decoration)

Preparation

Cake

Grease 6 small soufflé molds with melted butter and dust with sugar; refrigerate so that the mixture can rise without running over the sides.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler.

Whisk the egg yolks with rum and icing sugar until fluffy. Pour in the melted chocolate.

Whisk the egg whites and sugar and a pinch of salt until half stiff, and carefully fold in about 1/3 of the egg whites.

Combine the breadcrumbs, ladyfinger crumbs, and milk and fold into the mixture, along with the nuts and the rest of the egg whites.

Fill the molds 3/4 full with the mixture. Fill a deep baking tray with about 3/4 inch (2 cm) of water (or use a double boiler) and place the molds in the water.

Bake in a preheated oven at 340°F (170°C) for about 20 minutes.

Chocolate Sauce

Heat the milk with the cream, sugar, and vanilla bean.

Remove the vanilla bean and melt the finely chopped chocolate in the mixture.

Whip up the butter and pour in the chocolate mixture, stirring regularly.

Pour in some cognac for extra aroma.

Loosen the small cakes from their molds and arrange on plates. Pour on the warm chocolate sauce, and decorate with whipped cream.

Serves 6

For more information or to book your Uniworld cruise, please call Premier Custom Travel at (281) 301-5818 or toll-free at (800) 304-6789.